Not logged in
PANGAEA.
Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science

Clifford, Heather; Spaulding, Nicole; Kurbatov, Andrei; More, Alexander; Korotkikh, Elena; Sneed, Sharon B; Handley, Kim M; Maasch, Kirk A; Loveluck, Christopher; Chaplin, Joyce; McCormick, Michael; Mayewski, Paul (2019): Saharan Dust Proxy Record from a Colle Gnifetti Ice Core (KCC) [dataset publication series]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908569, Supplement to: Clifford, Heather; Spaulding, Nicole; Kurbatov, Andrei; More, Alexander; Korotkikh, Elena; Sneed, Sharon B; Handley, Kim M; Maasch, Kirk A; Loveluck, Christopher; Chaplin, Joyce; McCormick, Michael; Mayewski, Paul Andrew (2019): A 2000 Year Saharan Dust Event Proxy Record from an Ice Core in the European Alps. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124(23), 12882-12900, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030725

Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.

RIS CitationBibTeX CitationShow MapGoogle Earth

Abstract:
Dust events originating from the Saharan desert have far reaching environmental impacts but the causal mechanism of magnitude and occurrence of Saharan dust events (SDEs) during the pre-instrumental era requires further research, particularly as a potential analog for future climate. Using an ultra-high resolution glacio-chemical record from the 2013 Colle Gnifetti (CG) ice core drilled in the Swiss-Italian Alps we reconstructed a 2000 year-long summer Saharan dust record. We analyzed both modern (1780-2006) and pre-modern Common Era (C.E.) major and trace element records to determine air mass source regions to the Colle Gnifetti glacier and assess similarities to modern and reconstructed climate trends in the Northern Hemisphere. This new pSDE (proxy SDE) reconstruction, produced using measurements from a novel, continuous ultra-high-resolution (120-µm) ice core analysis method (laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer or LA-ICP-MS) is comprised of 316,000 data points per element covering the period 1 to 1820 C.E. We found that the CG ice core captures an anomalous increase in Saharan dust transport during the onset of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (870-1000 C.E.) and records other prominent shorter events (C.E., 140-170, 370-450, 1320-1370, and 1910-2000), offering a framework for new insights into the implications of Saharan dust variability.
Keyword(s):
Colle Gnifetti; Ice core; Saharan dust
Further details:
Instrument specifications README
Coverage:
Latitude: 45.928930 * Longitude: 7.876260
Date/Time Start: 2013-08-04T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2013-08-11T00:00:00
Event(s):
Colle_Gnifetti_KCC * Latitude: 45.928930 * Longitude: 7.876260 * Date/Time Start: 2013-08-04T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2013-08-11T00:00:00 * Elevation: 4484.0 m * Recovery: 71.95 m (including 1.6 m snow pit) * Location: Colle Gnifetti, Monte Rosa, Swiss Alps * Method/Device: Ice drill (ICEDRILL) * Comment: Storage: at -20°C in isolating polystyrene boxes. Institutes involved in drilling, processing and funding: Heidelberg University (D), Institute of Environmental Physics (leading institute); University of Bern (CH), Physics Institute, Climate and Environmental Physics (Remo Walther, Samuel Marending, Jakob Schwander); University of Maine (US), Climate Change Institute; University of Fribourg (CH); Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Meeres- und Polarforschung (D). Recovery and analysis of the KCC ice core, associated written records, and interpretation were supported by the Arcadia Fund of London, Harvard University, Initiative for the Science of the Human Past.
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Size:
8 datasets

Download Data

Download ZIP file containing all datasets as tab-delimited text — use the following character encoding:

Datasets listed in this publication series

  1. Clifford, H; Spaulding, N; Kurbatov, A et al. (2019): (Figure 2) Un-adjusted LA-ICP-MS 4-cm multi-element runs on ice core KCC from Colle Gnifetti. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908571
  2. Clifford, H; Spaulding, N; Kurbatov, A et al. (2019): (Figure 3) Principle component analysis on annually averaged ICP-MS/IC measurements from ice core KCC from Colle Gnifetti. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908564
  3. Clifford, H; Spaulding, N; Kurbatov, A et al. (2019): (Figure 4) Annually averaged and smoothed ICP-MS Fe measurements (1780-2006) on ice core KCC from Colle Gnifetti. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908565
  4. Clifford, H; Spaulding, N; Kurbatov, A et al. (2019): (Figure 5a) Annually averaged LA-ICP-MS Fe56 measurements (1-1820) with applied Gaussian filter on ice core KCC from Colle Gnifetti. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908576
  5. Clifford, H; Spaulding, N; Kurbatov, A et al. (2019): (Figure 5b) Number of weak and strong Sahara Dust Event proxys (pSDEs) in ice core KCC from Colle Gnifetti. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908567
  6. Clifford, H; Spaulding, N; Kurbatov, A et al. (2019): (Figure 7p1) Averaged Resample by 0.02 years of LAICPMS Fe56 data with applied Gaussian filter (1315-1365) on ice core KCC from Colle Gnifetti. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908573
  7. Clifford, H; Spaulding, N; Kurbatov, A et al. (2019): (Figure 7p2) LA-ICP-MS Fe56 measurements (1315-1365) on ice core KCC from Colle Gnifetti. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908574
  8. Clifford, H; Spaulding, N; Kurbatov, A et al. (2019): (Figure S5) Iron and sulfur concentration in ice core KCC from Colle Gnifetti. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.908568